Remember when the
Birmingham City Council claimed to care about the wallets of its people?

It railed against rising Jefferson
County Sewer rates, arguing that steadily increasing bills were not just wrong,
but predatory and perhaps even racist. It hired a lawyer to fight the county, urged
the Legislature to step in because city ratepayers had taken all they could
stand. Some council members even filed suit to ease the pain.

"It's a pocketbook issue
for me," then-Council President Roderick Royal said in 2011. Councilman Jay
Roberson put it like this:

''It
is our responsibility as elected officials that we make sure we focus on the
interests of the people ... It's unfortunate that the taxpayers are having to
deal with the burden of this situation.''

Now it's a different
story. No, it's the same old never-ending story.

To heck with the people. All that matters is power.

Because rates at the
Birmingham Water Works have risen more than 200 percent since the turn of the
century, and that's even more than increases at the sewer system in that time. And since customers get both bills in one depressing
envelope, they are repeatedly bashed over the budget with a double dose of
doom. Since 2001, combined water and sewer rates rose at a rate 15 times that
of income in Birmingham.

Where are council members
now?

Not just looking away, but
actively aiding and abetting a water board that does to ratepayers exactly what
the sewer system has done.

Council members have made
it their top priority this session to stop the Alabama Legislature from
tampering with the Birmingham Water Works. They are dead set on blocking a bill
by Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, and Rep. Paul DeMarco, R-Homewood, that
is expected to cap water board pay, set term limits, expand representation on the board and
force it to hold hearings before raising rates.

"You can share
leadership," said Councilman Steven Hoyt, who was among those who once sought
to sue the county. "But you certainly don't share power."

Which is hilarious,
really. The Water Works claiming to be a victim of a smear campaign is like
Miley Cyrus complaining the camera makes her look silly.

For years this board has
been overpaid, over-indulged and overly sheltered. They churn meetings for pay
and spend too much on food, travel, perks and incestuous contracts.

But that is not even the
real problem. The real problem is that this board, without fail or consequence,
raises rates each year to pay for all that and more.

It raises rates, perhaps
most importantly, so it can continue to borrow with impunity. It now carries
almost a billion dollars in long-term debt, and the only thing keeping it from
crashing down is its ability to annually soak customers with the same impunity.

The Water Works will fight
any oversight, inventing a "smear campaign" to gloss over its failings.

The City Council will
fight it too, putting its power before its people.

But to Birmingham-area
residents there is no bill to come before the Alabama Legislature this year
that is more important than this one.

It would finally, finally
hold the Water Works accountable.

For its customers. And
their wallets.

John Archibald's column appears
Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Birmingham News, and on AL.com. Email
him at jarchibald@al.com